145TH YEAR, NO. 205
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2018
FIRE & RAIN
Photos by COLIN MURPHEY | The Daily Astorian
Jeff Daly’s iLLUMiNART took over Astoria on a rain-soaked weekend. The quirky public art project
featured a fire-breathing dragon and images projected on several buildings on Friday and Saturday nights.
Police,
state urge
people to
avoid elk
Warrenton town
hall held amid
rising concerns
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — There have
been 49 police calls about elk over
the past three years, Warrenton Police
Sgt. Jim Pierce said. Most concerned
the animals laying in the road, eating
plants and trees, and damaging peo-
ple’s property, but a few were about
aggressive behavior.
Amid rising concerns of human
and elk interaction, Warrenton Mayor
Henry Balensifer organized a town
hall with state wildlife and police offi-
cials Thursday. A similar town hall
will be held in Gearhart.
Issues increase in the fall when
males rut and in the spring when cows
give birth. Balensifer recounted how
his wife had been charged and pushed
into the brush by an elk while jogging
on the Warrenton Waterfront Trail.
The idea of an elk hunt had been
discussed several years ago while
redrawing urban waterfowl-hunt-
ing maps, Balensifer said. A new
state pilot program starting next year
would allow cities that declare deer a
public nuisance to petition the state
See ELK, Page 5A
Public art
trail coming
to Oregon
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
As a modern homage to the Ore-
gon Trail, the Oregon Coast Visitors
Association is developing a public art
trail that will stretch from Astoria to
the California border.
The idea of the program is to con-
nect and promote existing public stat-
ues, murals and more in each of the
Oregon Coast’s 27 communities. The
visitors association is working to cat-
alogue these pieces to create a com-
prehensive map of all the art in the
public sphere for a self-guided tour
by next year.
Some of what would be featured
in Clatsop County includes the Asto-
ria Column, the Lewis and Clark
statue at the Seaside Turnaround, and
the tufted puffin sculpture by Cannon
Beach City Hall.
Clockwise: A participant dressed up as the Astoria Column added to the
festivities. • The fire-breathing dragon installation was a popular sight at the
iLLUMiNART event in Astoria. • Jeff Daly makes adjustments to a projector
in preparation for the art event over the weekend. • Jaclyn Otter braves the
rainy weather to take in one of the projections at the Astoria Riverwalk.
See ART:, Page 5A
Manager sees equal value in numbers, people
Gray joined historical society in December
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
P
eople don’t often associate a love of
numbers with a love of social inter-
action. But for Emily Gray,
Clatsop County Histori-
cal Society’s recently hired
business manager, those two
factors drove her to the new
job.
“It makes me giddy and
happy to be in an Excel
spreadsheet, so I knew it was kind of a
good fit.” Gray said. “I also get a chance
to go out and interact with people in the
museum.”
Gray, 39, joined the historical soci-
ety in December after working as a book-
keeper at Warrenton Fiber. After growing
up in Salem and moving around the Pacific
Northwest, she settled in Astoria with her
three sons in 2006.
She soon enrolled at
Clatsop Community Col-
lege, where her father —
Tom Gill — is the direc-
tor of institutional research.
Initially lamenting the lack
of amenities compared to a
larger city, she grew to enjoy Astoria.
“We thought it was a great opportunity
Alan Mossman
See GRAY, Page 5A
Emily Gray is the new business manager at the Clatsop County
Historical Society.
April 21st & 22nd
Saturday: 9 am- 5 pm Ԃ Sunday: 10 am- 3 pm
Clatsop County Fairgrounds
You Never Know What You’ll Find At
A Collectors West Gun & Knife Show!
92937 Walluski Loop
collectorswest.com
$
7